Cricketers behaving badly
If you start paying football-style salaries, then it isn’t long, I suppose, before you get football-style behaviour. If you start hyping cricket tournaments with the hoopla of a Las Vegas world heavyweight title match, then soon you get the same pre-bout posturing and verbal pyrotechnics. Perhaps the lesson of the past week or so is that vulgar cricketing auctions quickly get followed by vulgar cricketing actions.
In the latest instalment of ‘Clash of the Cricketing Titans,’ the Australian opener Matthew Hayden has called Harbajhan Singh ".
The Indian spinner has responded in kind, saying that Hayden is an unpopular figure in a world game which Australia no longer dominates with anywhere near its old menace or authority. "Maybe they realise that they no longer are the undisputed champions of the world,’ says Harbhajan, slipping into boxing parlance. "Maybe, they feel the crown is slipping," he added, continuing in his pugilistic vein.
All that’s missing from cricket these days is a weigh-in and pre-fight photo-call, where a barrel-chested Hayden would go nose-to nose with India’s famed Turbanator. Back during my time in India, someone once told me that cricket became so popular because it was the perfect sport for a caste-based, Brahmanical society, since no player ever had to touch another. Now it is close to becoming a full-on, contact sport - a "sledgefest", if not quite yet a slugfest.
Just listen to the Indian captain Mehandra Dhoni, who this week revealed to reporters his philosophy on what were once genteelly called the "niceties" of the game. "Cricket can never be friendly," he said. Only last weekend, the Indian one-day captain was reprimanded for wearing wicket-keeping gloves with too much webbing, which breached the rules of the game. Curiously, they also featured a militaristic camouflage design, which at least seems more in keeping with its current spirit.
In escalating what is drearily called an ongoing "war of words", Dhoni was merely echoing Andrew Symonds, who said much the same thing when he appeared in a federal courthouse in Adelaide to press the case that Harbhajan had called him a monkey. A "Test match is no place to be friendly with an opposition player", said Symonds, with bristling belligerence.
These, remember, are powerful and opinion-forming voices in the fast-changing game. At auction last week, both Dhoni and Symondsfor the upcoming Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament. Is not their thinking on the behavioral requirements of the modern game so very bankrupt that it can be measured only in pennies?
The velocity at which cricket has changed over the southern summer is perhaps best illustrated by the short career trajectory of the 19 year old Indian bowler, Ishant Sharma. Few had heard of the gangly rookie outside of the subcontinent until this past test series in Australia, during which he delivered the fastest ball ever recorded by an Indian bowler.
Partly on the strength of that, at the IPL auction he was snapped up for $950,000 by the Kolkata franchise owned by the Bollywood mega-star, Shahrukh Khan.
Then, just a few days later, at the one-day international in Sydney, he was fined 15% of his match – peanuts, in the new scheme of things – for goading Andrew Symonds (who else?) with a most ungentlemanly gesture.
Since gliding onto the international scene, Sharma has exhibited talent, wealth and boorishness. He is clearly destined for a great future in a greatly changed game.
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"Back during my time in India, someone once told me that cricket was the perfect sport for a caste-based, Brahmanical society, since no player ever had to touch another."
For a writer who professes to be analytical, you pay lip service to your understanding of Indian society if that is how you sum up our country. I dare you to ask any of the Indian cricketers of "your day" if that is why they enjoyed cricket - because they didn't want to touch each other. If I were as lazy as you, I could say something about the Australian cricket team of the '80s that wouldn't have admitted a person from Symond's ethnic background and tied that to Australia's atitudes towards non-white people. But that would not just discredit Symond's merit, but also paint Australian society in an undeserving broad sweep.
Since you seem to know a little more about cricket than you do about the countries that play it, I would ask that you refrain from making such poorly substantiated generalizations in the future and focus on improving the sport.
not the best perspective. whats wrong if you claim crickets going the soccer way. well in fact, cricekt is going the sub continent way with the least english boorishness and plentiful elagance attached.
Nick, I respect your views but this latest blog seems to border on a bias against the Indian Cricket team. No doubt, the very fabric of cricket has changed and the players can only be said to be adapting to the "new" way of life on the field or off it. The Aussies for all the fight in the world seem to be doing a lot more talking, jabbing these days vis-a-vis the days of Border or Waugh. Ponting has galvanized his men (beasts actually) to a la-Braveheart where being humble means you are weak of heart and mind, and that is simply unacceptable. Well, the other teams can only take so much before starting to return in kind. Ashes 2005 anyone? Having said that, YES, your basic premise of writing this piece cannot be argued with.
Regards.
I think the authors comments on the Caste Based view of cricket are so not true. On the contrary, this is the game played with the most sporting spirit in India and is like a religion in itself. There is much more to cricket in India than just the national team. Millions of people in India play cricket in their backyards and there is never an issue of caste based politics in this game. All belong to the same religion -"The Cricket". Dear Nick Bryant, India has always changed for good and has always been very flexible. Dont put your biased views to tarnish the image of this country.
Maybe I'm just being naive...but whatever in your list is new in the ribald world of cricket today? Sleaze, innuendo, ignoble statements – haven’t we all seen these for over a decade now? The ‘ungentlemanly’ gesture (pointing towards the pavilion) surely pales in comparison to other gesticulations seen numerous times. Examples abound, like pointing towards the heavens, to use one of the more genteel examples. Really! And I do seem to recall a photograph where the recipient of this accolade obligingly even bent over to tie his shoelaces…and that not really in the spirit of humanitas. From a multitude of teams. Repeatedly.
Surely, other, less genteel samples are liberally sprinkled in the recent annals of game – making the term ‘with a straight bat’ take altogether a different hue.
So, nativity aside, what’s new?
Just the money.
And possibly some difficulty in accepting the quantum.
The standards of behaviour in cricket are falling. Previously there were great rivalries but with them came friendships. But now, players seem to take things personally and the old adage of what was said on the field stayed on the field no longer applies. The solution is either an unfair law that is policeable (as exists now in terms of abuse/sledging), or a fair law (banning all words against opposition players) that is entirely unworkable. The time has come to put an end to the bad behaviour of cricketers. No matter what the media would have us believe, people come to matches to watch exciting cricket, not verbal jousting. In this regard, the greatest rivalry of the summer, between Tendulkar and Lee, has been fierc but both have managed to share a laugh. Why can't the respective teams follow their example?
I thought blogs were typically supposed to be short and pithy - your man's almost written a book here. Tell him to take the rest of the year off.
Absoluteler...rippin...cudn't be a better analysis...tho I am only 24,and basically from this generation...but the basic criterion of cricket...was that it was a gentlemans game...now its not...also the more hoopla that is taking place...cricket,propah that is...will cease to exist.
If only the cricketing gentlemen from Australia or England had created the EPL or APL.
Ponting, Symonds and Hayden - they were gentlemen but IPL and the Indian team have taught them to be rogues so that they can soon retire and play with and like us, Indians, in the IPL.
Indians - we worship monkeys, don't we - what else would you expect.
Get a life, Mr Bryant.
That reference to caste is absolutely correct - spot on, as the English say. Just think about it. An Indian is the world champion in chess, another non-contact sport. Indians excel in maths and software - you guessed it - no physical contact with other people.
I must compliment Nick on his deep insights into the Indian psyche.
Salim
Biased at best.
I agree with you Nick!
Paying football - type salaries would only result in football - type behaviors and that's what the organizers of the IPL are hoping for - to make a fortune out of the controversies surrounding the players.
Australians have been rude throughout the series, but the Indians were no better. But out here in India the media speaks only of the injustice committed against the Indians, but not about the ones the committed by the Indians against other teams (it is often described as aggression by our cricket greats). India usually bully weaker teams ( no one spoke a word when Anil Kumble sledged Yousuf Youhana (who happens to be one of the gentlemen in the game)in a recent series against Pakistan), but when it comes to being bullied they are the first ones to cry foul.
I pity the poor guy Bucknor, who was a victim of the Indian sarcasm in the ongoing series against the Aussies. He did make a few mistakes at the Sydney test match, but all umpires do make mistakes and its a part of the game. But the media here blamed him for the loss (which actually resulted from the incompetence of the Indian players, who were not able to hold ground for just 40 overs) and no one spoke about the pathetic performance of the Indians.
We can only pray that the spirit of cricket continue to last in spite of all these dramas.
Judging by the comments posted below, it seems that cricket fans and players alike are struggling to comprehend the new game. No one has yet found the magic ingredient in this new game that binds competitors and compatriots alike.
Is this an Australia problem, an Indian problem, or a cricket problem? I'm not sure yet.
No matter, Nick I think your probing in the right area. The IPL, the backs-against-the-wall BCCI, and the boorish summer of cricket have a connection that can't be ignored.
Cash, comments, race and creed issues. Deary me, cricket's gone all Daily Mail.
Not sure about the Brahmin touching thing, Nick. As a long-time aficionado of the Indian game, methinks it began here as a past-time for colonials and their local forelock tugging opponents, then commercialised into one of the few things - along with the train system, a yearning for democracy and chronic over-sensitivity about a great many things - that unites an otherwise artificial nation of myriad ethnicities.
I still don't get it.No other country has so much invested money,passion et al in cricket and we still don't dominate the way we should.We should be playing the local league against each other,rather than focusing on 11 guys playing the other 11 from most countries(except the asian subcontinent) whose populace will have great difficulty in naming half the members of their team!
Thanks Nick, I'm completely in agreement. The pox that has disfigured the face of cricket is the Indian mania for cheap thrills that was originally the ODI game. The TV channels aiming for an Indian audience realized what a money spinner the ODI was, and everything since then has happened with a view to satisfying more and more of this lust. The calendar was overloaded with ODIs. The players were stretched to the max in terms of travelling and playing. Then came 20-20. And now you have this regularly ugly spectacle - auctions, swearing and all that comes with it. Money talked in the end, and Indian TV money talked louder than anything else. The ICC played along every time. Somewhere along the way. cricket has lost its soul. For those who grew up on it as the gentleman's game, that is long dead. It is now as you said gladiatorial combat and it is uglier and poorer for it.
To Rama, you have got it right. If Tendulkar and Lee can play a tough game and still have a laugh, why cant teams learn from that and emulate those two. The profesionalism and sportsmanly nature of Tendulkar is a shining example of how the game should be played. Come on ALL you cricketers play the game hard and leave everything else on the field of play after the day's play. I think the media have a lot to answer for.
Just another Aussie lamenting the loss of cricketing power to the Indians. Be a big boy Nick and except the fact that India(or the evil BCCI..booohooo) owns cricket whether you like or not. And that Brahmin rant.. just unnecessary, don't forget the the great White Australia policy, something to be really proud of eh?
Nick, The "caste in cricket" issue is something new i have not heard being in India for about 23 years now and playing cricket with since my childhood with people from various regions,religions and ofcourse for your satisfaction castes.I have not in any day while playing cricket thaught about the caste of any of my friends.Your assesment that cricket being a very popular on the basis of caste is absolutely wrong.First get to know what exactly is Indian society in the present day.And and ofcourse I hope you dont scratch your mind for finding the reasons why "Cricket was born in England" while there was no Caste system in England.
The article may infact lead to misconceptions about Indian society.Have to be very careful while posting such articles.
Thank You
Too bad the game has become boorish. In the US, I had got in the habit of explaining that in Cricket, one applauded good batting even of an opposing team, and the players all displayed gentlemanly behaviour. Sadly, not so any more.
Can you imagine Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Sunil Gevaskar or other greats behaving in such a manner?
It just isn't cricket, you know, that is paying the price.
Also, in reply to Salim: Did you never hear of India being world champions in Hockey for years. Further, there is a sport called 'Kabaddi'. India is not one personality. Grow up.
It is quite an amazing description of the events that happened in the cricket world this summer.Simply put it lacks objectivity and neutrality.
That the sledging was invented and perfected by the aussies,and the initial provocation in every instance during this summer has come from an australian player is quitely never mentioned.
Never mind that Mr Hayden need not have used that language and go on radio. Never mind that the judge found Symonds to be provocation in the SCG incident and harbhajan not guilty.
Hayden has taken the sledging to the public domain, outside the cricketing arena. His posturing towards Ishant over radio waves not to mention the crude caricaturization with goat is also not mentioned.
What is quicly picked upon is the childish and often immature response of the young indian players who clearly lack polished english and articulation.
This is a dilemna of all the teams that cannot sing the fine tune of aussie sledging often hidden under epithets of playing hard & fair. Dhoni is right in calling (for the lack of better word) it an "art" that players from non-english speaking countries must master.
You would probably become a good sledger yourself on the field, Nick.
Whats the big deal. I dont think many of you have played some serious cricket in school, college or clubs. Rivalry is a must, and if you are a player in any team..small or big, cricket or any sport, you better be strong. So what if a player talks smack or do some sledging, so what, play the game and win it. Come on no one plays a friendly match, for that go and watch some bollywood stars play some cricket.
Stop acting like little babies, play like men. Forget gentlemans game, Thats 1800s and its over baby.
And cricket needs 20/20, and we need IPL or ICL teams to make cricket competitive, lucrative just like NFL in US and football teams in Europe. The ICC needs a lesson from NFL and NCAA in US on how they operate and everything that goes along with it. And the players hit it hard, talk smack, so what let it be competitive, please dont make cricket a game for weak people, because I am not.
India needs to be credited for this initiative. We need to have shops that sell player and country jerseys and oneday gear. I find it so hard to buy an indian oneday match jersey, if I do find somewhere on net, its for babies. They never seem to have XL or XXl. BCCI doesnt even have their own website. Thats so pathetic and sad. And please stop talking trash about india or caste in cricket(damn thats so untrue)...
Nick,
What is the real reason behind such biased post? Maybe you cannot tolerate India's progress, that is why you notice cast system in cricket when you visit India instead of noticing the mounting infrastructure. Maybe it hurts that India can afford to play millions to players to play in the IPL.
The reason behind deteriorating condition of cricket are the so called "cricket experts" like yourself who add fuel to the fire. Good luck for future because India is coming and coming strong.
It is bitter jealousy that makes people write stories like this about India. How low the standards have become for the high and mighty ´óÏó´«Ã½.
The Sledging was invented by Aussies and they are getting a taste of their own good medicine. Just Imagine a veteran like Clive Llyod whose wicket was taken for the last time in test crickey by Craig Mcdermott had invited for a "rumble on the beach" competition !!!.
When ever anything good happens in India, Britain, the British and its media seems to react in the most negative manner. This is nothing new either. Probably the British are feeling the heat from India, a former colony, which used to borrow from them. They are just not able to tolerate the fact that India is a more powerful country, not just in cricket, but even in world politics than Brtain. Of course ECB can't even dream to match the feat the BCCI has pulled off over the past weeks. No wonder they are complaining soo much. tut tut tut.
Nick, the problem with the likes of you (ie folks who refuse to accept the reality that the center of gravity of everything of consequence) is that you are more comfortable living under the rock that you have lived so far.
As far as cricket is concerned so far, the likes of you have called all the shots, changed rules to suit your playing conditions, appointed umpires/referees from your neck of the woods to ensure that you can hang on the last piece of glory for the longest time. Now when the likes of you see that you are loosing any influence whatsoever, the likes of you resort to these underhanded techniques.
Remember we did not invent sledging - we have been merely trying to play by your rules. And now that we are getting better at that you do not have the stomach for it.
In my humble opinion - Australian Weed Killers are not POTENT Enough For Indian Weeds, you bunch of hypocites!
By gee Nick you've hit a nerve with the Indians. Seems like it's everyone elses fault. A lot of logs on shoulders being displayed here plus a bit of reverse racism. Looks like the cast system is out of bounds for aliens to discuss.
Ern
"along with the train system, a yearning for democracy and chronic over-sensitivity about a great many things"
I love India but this comment just sums the country up. I remember a forum where Brett Lee's singing skills were being mocked, and a couple of Indians said we were being racist!! Criticising anything remotely to do with India - like Brett Lee singing (badly) - is interpreted as racism &/or aggression.
Having said that, the Aussies (mostly Symonds & Hayden really) acted very poorly. The Ishant Sharma 15% fine was ridiculous as Symonds started sledging when he got bowled. How often does a batsmen abuse the bowler who just got him out? If that isn't being a sore loser, I don't know what is.
Great article Nick, though there are some things I am not sure about.
This is my two cents...
I think this summer has been strange. With the rise of the Indian power in world cricket, they seem to be making a stand against anyone that questions them at all (Much like all over the pacific islands - ask Fijians what they think of Indians), this is not congusive to being a leader.
Quite frankly, I think both teams play hard but fair. As the result shows last night, the Indians can definately beat the aussies when they bat well.
I hope India begin to understand this us v them mentality can work in some instances, though we all have a common friend in our love for this great game. Aust and India will be the dominant powers of world cricket, and the crowning of the champion team will be based upon performance, not the boards bank balance. At this point in time, the aussies have won the last 3 world cups, ashes, beaten India in a test series in India, etc, etc. The Indians are currently the world champions of T20.
I think it is obvious who is the most powerful team judging by these results.
Nick...Why have u been so partial towards Aussies in this blog. Nowhere have u mentioned about Aussies bad behaviour and Sledging. They have started it all. All the way u have put indian team in bad light.
And what u mean by Vulgar Auction, IF this had happened in England or Australia would u have explained it in this way.
PLease replay to this if u can.
To all those who are deriding Nick about the 'non-contact' and 'caste-system'comment - just goes to show your ignorance on Indian history and culture. Have you ever wondered why only cricket could flourish in India out of so many sports that the British brought - football, rugby etc? Its true that a major reasons for this si the non-contact nature of this sport, playing which the neo educated brahmins and princes could keep the shudras and untouchables miles apart from them, even if playing with or against them.
Please give some thought before typing on your keyboards.
Yet again another masterpiece of Australian sportsmanship and analysis of subcontinental sport and society. Nowhere in the article is it even slightly hinted about the great Australian spirit of playing the game fairly. A veteran calling a 19 year old for a bout in the ring is purportedly sportsmanship. What harm would it do to the game if its made more popular by a league just as in the english premier league. Unfortunately, there are very few Gilchrists, Lees & Tendulkars in this gentleman game of cricket. It is becoming more competitive and as the very old saying goes "People living in glass houses should not throw stones". Cricket is a religion by itself in the subcontinent and does not go by the socio-religious boundaries. The team members dont go about asking other player's caste/religion, all that they care about is good performance. Indians dont mind the caste system to be discussed by "aliens" as long as they know what they are talking about rather than put in some half baked ideas together and claim to have done an indepth analysis about the social system of a country that had the first ever civilisation on earth.
Ok, another English/Aussy journalist ranting about Indian supremacy in world cricket. I think these guys will take time to understand where the tides are going to, untill then unfortunately we have to live with these kinds of biased, completely uninformed piece of useless scripts.
my dear friend, history is the best proof who is good and who is bad.. I hope you (Nick!!) know well the Aussies history (with full of bad behaviours and strange criminal tactics!!)..So, there is no point of discussions.
" A bad man quarrel with his tools"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't know why so many people (in the comments section) are upset by the reference made by Nick to the caste system - no doubt, it still exists. There is a subtlety Nick is probably unaware of, though - caste is a *lot* more important in India's villages... and cricket is played almost solely in urban areas. How many cricketers are from India's villages? The two can't really be linked.
The rest of the article is spot on.
Aloke, Sunil Gavaskar is one of the boors of cricket. Surely you could have hunted around for a more appropriate example. Rude, impudent, basically mannerless. For as long as India is wrapped in kid gloves and given special treatment, the game is over. The manner in which the Singh case was dealt is just another example of India not being big enough to face the consequences of the poor behaviour of its own. The shame culture is a one-way street in India, it (the shame) is only considered worthy of saving when it affects YOU. When Tendulkar retires, there will be no more gentlemen in Indian cricket. There is a difference between arrogance and confidence. India exemplify the former. Interesting that the firebrands of India are all suddenly not available for the upcoming series against us.
What can one say about your knowledge about cricket? You should be writing a book titled "Cricket for the dumb and the dumber". It would be the best seller in England and Australia.
You have the material to be a superstar. Keep writing funny blogs. Its a nice break from serious circket.